Superal coasts to three-shot Eagle Ridge romp

Princess Superal—CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

GEN. TRIAS—Princess Superal closed out with an even-par 72 on Friday and still won the P750,000 ICTSI Eagle Ridge Ladies Classic comfortably over a field that never really got to apply final round pressure on her the whole day at the complex’s Norman course.

Using her latest stint here to fine tune her form for the Step Up Tour in Japan, Superal tallied a 54-hole 214 to hold off Chanelle Avaricio for the second straight tournament and collect the P112,000 top prize.

Avaricio, who lost by one to Superal last week at Sherwood Hills, assembled a 70 but had two costly bogeys coming home, while Chihiro Ikeda submitted a 75 to finish another two shots back.

“I just focused on my goal to get into a certain score and didn’t mind who was making a move,” said Superal. “But I struggled with my putting at the front and missed a number of birdie chances.”

Harmie Constantino, listed as one of three pretournament favorites, cracked par for the first time this week with a 71 and salvaged fourth, six shots off the winning score.

After impressing in the opening round with a 71 to set the pace, Daniella Uy couldn’t get anything going for the second straight day and ballooned to an 80 for a 300 total.

Ikeda, the former Southeast Asian Games individual champion, looked poised to challenge Superal early with a birdie on the par-5 fifth. But that threat fizzled out just as quickly when she dropped three shots on the holes bridging both nines, with her double on the par-4 ninth practically snuffing out her challenge.

The circuit takes a break this week and will return with back-to-back Riviera stops on July 28-30 (Langer) and on Aug. 4-6 (Couples) before action moves to the Splendido Taal Golf Club on Aug. 18-20 and then to Tagaytay Midlands on Aug. 25-27.